Customer Reviews

Rips

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Early in Peter Owens' fine novel Rips, Everett, a trapper and
fisherman on the St. Lawrence River, declares the central theme of
this work: "Ain't nothin' worse than a channel current goin one
way and the wind goin the other. That rip'll kill yah." The
unknown and deceptive can spell disaster.

Surviving in the North
American wilderness of the 1750s on the frontier between Quebec and
New York required a keen understanding of wind, water, sailing, the
river, Indians, soldiers, mariners and other people of all kinds, not
to mention bugs, animals and plants, and most important, the
all-pervasive, murderous weather. This thrilling tale skillfully
weaves the lives of six people as they fight to stay alive and
together in conditions that demand resourcefulness, experience and
courage.

Everett lives on an island in the St. Lawrence with the
widowed Ella, whom he has rescued from her burnt-out cabin, and her
son, Jamie. When the novel begins, Everett is trying hard to be a
father to Jamie, help Ella through the loss of her husband and to
steer clear of the warring French, British, Huron, Mohawk and
Iroquois, as well as protect them from thieving rival trappers and
fishermen; but the outside world keeps intruding on their already hard
life.

The fortunes of Everett, Ella, Jamie and their friends Lucy,
a half Iroquois trading post owner, Henri, a deserter from the French
navy, and Gilles, a French ship's officer, intertwine and fragment in
ways that are sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, and always exciting
as they risk their lives to help one another. We come to know these
people intimately and to share the author's affection for them, and
along the way we learn a lot about the human spirit and an
appreciation for the realities of survival.

Clearly Owens has a
vast knowledge of the period and place he creates for us, and tells
his story in some of the most beautifully written scenes I have ever
read. With wisdom and compassion his muscular prose leads us through
myriad complex adventures. Whether Everett and his friends are trying
to stay afloat in crushing ice, flying like the wind across the
river's surface in an ice boat, or crawling on their bellies through a
frozen swamp with a band of Indians, the writing carries us along with
the sureness and depth of the St. Lawrence itself. Rips is a deeply
affecting and exciting novel.

I look forward to seeing other books
by this talented author.

Owens' fabulous characters and his descriptions of the Island where they lived and the times in which they lived as well as his attention to the changing conditions of their intertwined lives made me feel like I was one of them. I shivered in the snow and ice with Everett, salivated when Henri explained a dish he would cook, shuddered at the torture of Father Ray and through it all, prayed that they would all be spared from the harsh environment and the many challenges each of them faced. For the historical/adventure buff, this is a terrific read. I hope there is a sequel in the making.

Rips provides an exciting look at the French and Indian War from a unique perspective, inhabitants of an island in the St. Lawrence River. The book reminded me of the recent movie (and classic work) LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Rips is the kind of book you cruise through in three days -- and then read again. The characters are compellingly likeable, the pacing brisk with nary a dull moment, and the emotional and the narrative scope is big, impressive and meaty. It's a strong story with moments of depth, clarity, and perfect historical accuracy unusual for a tale that is just so damn fun.

Everett, a durable tough minded romantic, leads the pace with a gravelly sense of right and wrong and thickskinned determination. His adventures -- and unique knowledge of the dangerous land in which he lives -- are documented with the kind of simple, matter of fact confidence that makes him so likable and the reader forget just how detailed and painstakingly researched the material must be.

How else do you say it? It's a real page turner. I never got bored and each scene cut out just before I wanted it to; the story always moving in a new an surprising direction. The action is spirited, the relationships occationally lusty, and the prose is funny, smart and on target.

Rips is a heck of a good yarn. The novel introduces readers to a wonderful character-Everett, a fisherman and woodsman with an intuitive intelligence that he doesn't appreciate enough. Everett's decency and modesty combined with his self-admitted befuddlement at the thinking processes of women make him touchingly lovable. His canny understanding of the wilderness and his recognition of and respect for the evil innate in humans convince the reader that Everett has much wisdom to share. Everett does share his knowledge, and eventually his love, with young Jamie and his widowed mother Ella. Much of the adventure of this book centers on Everett's protection of these two settlers come to the northern lands along the St. Lawrence River. The book builds in suspense as Everett, Ella, and Jamie face the hardships and the horrors visiting them as they attempt to live peaceably amidst the violence native to the harsh 18th-century New World colonies and exasperated by the French-Indian War. One of the most interesting characters in the book is Lucy, a part-Iroquois woman who runs a trading post that Everett frequents. She is rough, tough, mannish, and uncouth; she is also womanly, loving, loyal, and fearless. Lucy has a sort of natural grace and aristocracy that comes from being honest and unsophisticated. Her story is a sort of ugly duckling one, in which she gradually is revealed as a more and more beautiful element of nature. The other female characters, however, are not well-rounded. Ella is a rather bland character who is admirable in her stoicism and a later character Renee is another nice, strong person. The male characters are much more fun. There's Henri, a somewhat effete French soldier, and Gilles, a noble French officer, both of whom take advantage of the presumption that they are dead to leave military life behind. There's Gordon, an Iroquois with a Machiavellian perspective on the role of a warrior. As important to the plot as the people is Nature, a character that Owens describes in poetic prose. The unyielding force of the weather, the wilderness, and, most particularly, the river presents the characters with challenges to both their physical stamina and their creative powers. When Lucy and Everett take to the river on her sailboat, the struggle between water and humans is tense. When Lucy and Henri sail the frozen river on an iceboat, the scene is beautiful. The comedy is light as Everett attempts to ferry a mule on a raft. The novel unfolds a series of adventures that are exciting and that affirm the power of the human spirit, while also revealing the ignominious violence humans will perpetuate. The only disappointment of the novel is in the last few pages in which the author, who has so deliciously and precisely painted scenes that detailed those adventures, chooses to encapsulate the futures of the surviving characters in a rushed and "epilogue-like" few pages.

I agree with every 4 and 5 star review of this book on Amazon. This is a great historical novel in the vein of Last of the Mohicans or Lonesome Dove. It might not have the beautiful prose of these two books, but what it lacks in literary perfection it more than makes up for in memorable characters and pure adventure. There is a little too much untranslated French (and a few too many typos) in the book. Most of the untranslated French is in the beginning. It's tough to figure out exactly where the characters are coming from if you can't understand what they're saying. However, there's less French as the story unfolds, and what French there is later in the book gets translated by one multilingual character or another.

We meet our heroes right off the bat. They're on an island sanctuary on the St. Lawrence. Turns out, it's not so much of a sanctuary as it is a home/fortress. These are tough, brutal, uncertain times. If you're not trying to hunt and fish and survive the elements, you're trying to save yourself from warring indigenous Indian tribes, French, English and American soldiers, slavers and all manner of evilness.

If you want to read a historical novel about the St. Lawrence River Valley and the surrounding area in the 1750s, and you like a book with great characters, ripping adventure, more than a few thoroughly believable and unique love stories, fights to the death with axes, knives, spears, arrows, rifle and pistol shot, tales of surviving blizzards and freezing cold and raging rapids, killer thunderstorms, kidnapping, slavery and torture at the hands of cannibalistic Indian tribes, then this is the book for you.

I liked this book a whole lot. It was fast moving and complicated at the same time. The characters are very likeable. Usually when I read a book, I'll pick a character or two that I really like, and I'll rush to get to the sections they're in. Not in this book. Every character and every situation is interesting with lots of action and adventure. There were so many conflicts happening in history at this time, and Rips covers them all with a great story and fun characters. I was more dedicated to finishing this book than I have been in a long time. I was dissapointed when it ended.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It's raw with historically-authentic use of language and descriptions of torture. It's lusty and filled with romantic, compelling characters of many ethnic backgrounds. And it brings to life -- vividly -- the beauty, horror, and reality of survival (centuries ago) in merciless, north-american climates. I couldn't put it down...loved the characters...would rate it five star airplane reading!!!